KINGSTON, Jamaica — Following a meeting on June 5 involving stakeholders and the Island Traffic Authority, an island-wide transportation strike is reportedly looming, potentially triggering the reinstatement of driver’s license suspensions due to accumulated demerit points.

In response to the recommendation, operators have threatened to withdraw their service come Monday, June 10 for five days.

Transportation Minister Daryl Vaz has said that he is fully aware of the intention of some operators to strike, describing the proposed action as premature in light of an upcoming meeting scheduled for June 11 to fully ventilate such matters.

“There has been misinformation being circulated by misinformed persons agitating for disruption on the transport sector,” said Vaz in a tweet.

“As always, I use the three Cs in my approach: consultation, collaboration and communication,” he added.

Similarly, president of the Transport Operators Development Sustainable Services (TODSS), Egerton Newman, has sought to dissuade members of his grouping from participating in the strike action.

“We have seen no reason whatsoever to participate or give support to any plans to withdraw service on Monday June 10, 2024, which we understand will last for 5 days,” said Newman in a release.

“Whatever the challenges are, we have several mediums to ventilate our concerns. Over the past two weeks, we have been having consultations with various groups and agencies of government and they have been very receptive to our concerns. Our concerns can also be referred to the courts. TODSS is calling on all well-thinking public transportation leaders and operators, especially those in the KMTR (Kingston Metropolitan Transport Region), to continue the consultations with the powers that be while at the same time continuing to provide the best travel experience to the commuting public,” he added.